Part 73 (2/2)

He looked sad again directly, and just touched the sleeve of my Norfolk jacket with the long nail of his forefinger.

”Ching velly solly,” he said.

”What about?”

”Mr Blooke think Ching fliends with pilates. Velly shocking; Ching hate pilates dleadfully; hollid men.”

”Yes, I am sure you do,” I said.

The Celestial's face lit up again directly, and he rubbed his hands.

”Ching velly--”

”Yes?” I said, for Mr Brooke called to me from the little cabin contrived for shelter in the after part of the vessel.

”Look here,” he said, as I joined him, ”we can keep below here, and command the river too, without being seen. Why, Herrick, my lad, this is capital; they will never suspect this Chinese boat to be manned by a crew of Her Majesty's Jacks.”

”Then everything has turned out for the best,” I cried eagerly.

”Humph! that remains to be proved, my lad. We've got to return and face Mr Reardon and the captain, and the first question asked of an officer who has been entrusted with one of Her Majesty's boats, and who returns without it, is--What have you done with the boat or s.h.i.+p? We--yes, you are in the mess, sir--have to go back and say that we have lost it.”

”Why, the captain owned to Pat that a thing couldn't be lost when you knew where it was.”

”I don't understand you, my lad,” said Mr Brooke.

”Don't you remember about the captain's tea-kettle, sir, that Pat dropped overboard? It was not lost, because Pat knew where it was--at the bottom of the sea.”

”Oh yes, I remember; but I'm afraid Captain Thwaites will not take that excuse.”

”Why, she has gone down already, sir,” I said, as I looked over the side for the boat we had left.

”Yes; but I can see the grating floating. The c.o.xswain took his jacket out of the hole.”

He pointed to the stout piece of woodwork which we had turned into a buoy, but I could not make it out, and I thought it did not much matter, for something else had begun to trouble me a great deal just then, and I waited very anxiously for my officer to make some proposal.

But it did not come at once, for Mr Brooke was planning about the watch setting, so as to guard against the junks coming down the river and pa.s.sing us on their way out to sea.

But at last all was to his satisfaction, one man keeping a look-out up the river for the descending junks, the other downward to the mouth for the return of the _Teaser_, whose coming was longed for most intensely.

Then, with just a sc.r.a.p of sail raised, the rest acting as a screen dividing the boat, we tacked about the river, keeping as near as was convenient to the spot where the _Teaser_ had anch.o.r.ed, and at last Mr Brooke said to me, just in the grey of the evening--

”I'm afraid the lads must be getting hungry.”

”I know one who is, sir,” I said, laughing.

He smiled.

”Well, I have been too busy and anxious to think about eating and drinking,” he said; ”but I suppose I am very hungry too. Here, my lad, pa.s.s that basket along, and serve out the provisions.”

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